Practising social distancing is considered one of the effective ways to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus infection. As a result, years-long religious practices and traditions have also come to a halt all over the world with churches, temples, mosques temporarily suspending the services involving the gathering of believers.
As a precautionary measure, Christian churches have requested the believers to refrain from attending the holy masses, despite being the lent season. Instead, people are asked to watch the celebration of the Eucharist online at their own residences. However, videos of two Italian priests, who conducted the online mass, have now gone viral for all wrong reasons.
When live-streaming went wrong!
Fr Paolo Longo, who is reportedly a priest at the Church of San Pietro and San Benedetto di Polla, has been streaming the mass online since the country has imposed a mandatory shutdown from March 9. However, one day, he had accidentally activated video filters and as soon as the live streaming began, several filters started to appear over his face.
Filters like astronaut helmet, yellow confetti, sunglasses, hat, pink moustache and cartoon eyes were seen on his face while he was conducting the online mass. Not just that, he was also spotted with a magnificent grey beard and once his face even got morphed to that of a black and white cat as well.
It is understood that the filters were activated throughout the 49-minute service as he wasn't aware of the blunder. However, the clip has been removed from his Facebook page, but snippets of the service have been shared by many on social media. The video, shared by a Twitter user Gavin Shoebridge has been viewed more than seven million times, at the time of reporting. "In Italy today, a priest made a decision to live-stream a mass as a result of COVID-19," he tweeted on March 24.
Watch the video here:
Another priest also repeats the blunder
Meanwhile, the video of another Italian priest too repeating the similar blunder has also surfaced online. The identity of the clergyman is unknown. But several cartoon photo filters like sunglasses, hat, violet moustache and beard, passing on his face has impressed many netizens. In the video, he is seen transforming into a rabbit and boxer while attempting to lead the service.
However, the priest, who didn't realise that he had activated the filters, thought he was becoming the victim of a prank. He even told his followers: "The person who keeps "drawing" on my face obviously likes to make jokes. But I think this is not the right time to laugh, thank you (translated)."
Meanwhile, many netizens are of the opinion that these funny incidents are a light relief while the whole world is struggling to face the Coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus in Italy
Surpassing the death toll in China, which was the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak, Italy has recorded the highest number of death cases. As of 27 March, the COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 8,215 people in Italy alone, while there are 62,013 active cases.
